Escaping the Dragon
by BurningHats
Summary: From riches, to rags... To riches... To rags again. Consistent isn't the word Coco would use to describe her life. Then again, sometimes you have to fall down a few more times, before you can get back up for good. AU-ish? Coco before she entered Beacon. Adult language, Graphic depictions of gore and violence, heavy drug use, murder.
1. Chapter 1

It was at this point, that Coco would admit she had a problem.

Not this second, exactly. First, she glared at the gasping soon-to-be-corpse before her.

She fixed herself to stand up straight, and spat to the side. In most cases, that would've made her feel strong. Masculine. Tough. But this victory was anything but that. It was scrappy, and disgusting. She should be dead.

She continued to glare at the corpse, trying to stare him down as the life faded from his eyes. This shit was his fault; she hadn't asked for much. He wouldn't even grant her that victory. His eyes darted madly around the room, before suddenly fixating on some nondescript point in the ceiling.

He was dead.

A part of her had expected to feel accomplished. She wanted to feel accomplished. This asshole had been a serious thorn in her side for months. Maybe for longer. But that wasn't what she was feeling.

She had been worried when she realized she was probably going to kill him, that guilt would drive her mad afterwards. But she felt no guilt.

As she stared at the pool of blood collecting beneath the cadaver in front of her, the only thing she felt was disgust. This whole scene was just plain gross. The fight she had had before this kill, the kill itself, the way he gurgled and spat before he died, the blood on the ground (and all over the wall behind him), and the stench that begun to permeate the air... All so disgusting...

She walked over to the closet area, to make sure her other victim had also perished. Tossing the murder weapon aside, she picked up the faunus from the wreckage of the door by his shirt, and after deducing that he was in fact, in the next life, tossed his corpse next to the other.

Perhaps she should feel guilty for that one? A poor rabbit, just in the wrong place, at the wrong time... Who then made some really poor decisions. He had probably only helped Deuces because he was hoping for some kind of discount. Maybe a free sample or something. Deuces had never had any kind of body guards before, since he was a big man. At least twice the size of the skinny rabbit faunus who had tried to help execute her when she freaked.

She then turned her attention onto the closet. Pushing away the pieces of broken door, and tearing down that which still hung, it didn't take her long to find what she was looking for: Her signature sunglasses were folded neatly on the top shelf. Coco reached for them, but stopped suddenly.

Her hands had gotten blood on them. Probably from when she picked up the faunus. Looking at the rifle off to the side, which was free of bloodstains, backed up her theory. Still, regardless of how she got blood on her hands, she wasn't about to get blood on her sunglasses. She walked over to the bed nearby, stepping over her rifle, and dried her hands using the sheet.

With clean hands, she walked back over to the closet, set to finally grab back her glasses. They were amazingly expensive Adel™ brand sunglasses, and they were a gift from her father. Only those in the family wore them. Had they not been the last gift she received from him, she would've let the brute keep them.

As she reached for them, another score caught her eye, under some of the door, on the floor of the closet. Moving some of the splintered wood out of the way with her shoe, she leaned down to see a chest, which, upon opening, revealed to her where Deuces kept his stash. The idiot hadn't even locked it.

And it was then, that she realized she might have a problem.

Had she just fucking murdered two people... And almost died... For drugs?

She looked back to the two corpses. Sure, she had technically come here to get back her glasses... But she had lost her glasses to this dealer, by offering her prized belonging as payment when she was really high and broke. If she hadn't have started down this path in the first place, she wouldn't be a murderer right now. Moreover, if she had had ANY self control, she wouldn't be a murderer right now. But her father was right. Her family was right. Her _mother_ was right.

Coco Adel had a drug problem.

She pulled her hands back and let the chest fall closed, wincing as it slammed shut. She was going to leave that here. The pain of that idea solidified her will to go on with it. She had to learn to say goodbye. After all, you could only murder someone for your glasses so many times before you go to prison. Coco's eyebrows slowly raised as that thought ran through her mind.

 _Prison._

How could she have been so stupid, she'd barely even thought of that! She quickly got up, and grabbed her glasses, before going back into the main room, where she had left her bag. She carefully put the glasses in their, and then headed back to the bedroom at a quick walk, to assess the situation. A large pool of blood had collected underneath the corpses. She frowned. She had also gotten some blood on the wall, what was left of the closet door, and the sheet, when she had dried her hands.

She hated the machine gun, rifle-things. They were _so messy._ Still, she had to appreciate their effectiveness. One volley had been enough for the faunus, and one volley had been enough for Deuces, despite his size. There was almost no defense for that series of deadly bullets. _Almost._

"Thoughts for later," Coco said to herself, bringing herself back to the matter at hand. After a few seconds of brainstorming she had decided on a course of action. First, she looted the corpses.

A lighter, a pack of smokes, a switchblade, and set of car keys were her spoiler of war. Pocketing her ill gotten goods, she then took off the top two blankets, and laid them down in the main room.

She went back into the bedroom, and went to work lying the two bodies beside each other, and then rolling them up in the sheet she had already bloodstained. The pool that had collected beneath them was a disturbing mixture of dry and still really wet, and the result was her hands and the sheet getting extremely bloody.

She picked up the two corpses in the sheet, and set them in the main room on the blankets she had already laid out, before washing her hands in the kitchen. Gods, she hated this stench.

She went back into the living room, and rolled up the bodies which were rolled up in a sheet, in the two blankets.

She then stood up to admire her handiwork.

It was still hellah obvious that there were bodies in those blankets. Thankfully, Deuces preferred blankets larger than him, so there was nothing sticking out. It was impossible to tell _who_ the bodies were, at least, until the blanket were pulled off. And more importantly, thanks to the bedding, she no longer had to touch the corpses directly.

Eight minutes of dragging corpses through the night later, she shut the corpses in the back of Deuces's van.

She returned to the crime scene to do one of the things she excelled at: cleaning. She hadn't been that good at it at first, but after a year of living on her own, it had come to her. She had discovered her own methods for many things, including blood. Which, made sense, considering she supported herself and payed her rent through illegal underground streetfighting rings.

This was more blood than she had ever had to clean though, and it took her hours. She also decided to scrape up the small pieces of wood, and throw that in the van too.

She had entered the house at 11pm, and she decided it was clean enough to leave at around 3am. She made sure to wipe down everything she touched, and to take the murder weapon with her, before heading out to the car. Settling down, she began to check his car for something, anything. He had been ready to just murder her outright. Meaning he probably had the neighbors paid off, to ignore the sounds of gunfire, and some simple way to dispose of her body ready.

He was an idiot, so it shouldn't be hard to get. She looked around for a number, or a map, with a location highlighted. She found her score in the form of a scroll, in the glove compartment. Deuces had dumbly named one of his contacts "Body Disposal." 'How on earth was he never caught by police?' Thought Coco.

She had to step out of the vehicle before making the call; the stench of the bodies in the back got too strong.

She also took this opportunity to light a fag she had picked off of Deuces. She took a deep inhale, calming herself. She'd have to be pretty fucking charming if she wanted to talk this douchebag into betraying and burning the corpse of his boss. She breathed smoke into the cold night air, as she hit the dial button.

A few rings. More rings.

It was about to go to voicemail, before a tired, smooth, feminine voice answered. "I told you not to call me at this hour. It was enough that you were an idiot, but I'll not work with a disobedient one. Next time I see you, you're dead." She said, in a very controlled and calm tone.

"Huh, you're actually completely correct on that last part. Sorry to wake you so early sweet thing, but I was wondering if we could talk business." Coco said, in just as calm a tone. She took another drag from her cigarette, to give the voice time to react. When the voice decided to react by stunned silence, Coco continued, figuring it would be best to just get to the point. "I get this picture that you don't much like Dunces. Boon for you, because shit happened, and he's dead now. Don't suppose you'd help out in the clean up? I've already done so much of it tonight." Coco finished, before taking another inhale.

The voice on this other end let out an amused chuckle. "Okay, but what's in it for me?" She asked, lazily.

Coco blew smoke into the air, and shrugged, before saying, "I don't know, do you want his stash?"

"That's not what you killed him for? Hmm..." The deceptively peaceful voice paused, before continuing. "Tell you what: Tell me why you killed him, and then meet me at 11pm tomorrow, okay? At the bridge between the commercial district and the residential one? Oh, and bring the stash." The voice said, calmly lined with subtle excitement.

Coco let out another breath of smoke, before replying to the voice. "You're not an easy girl to please then? Okay, fine." She made sure no one was around when she said this next part. "I got in too deep. I owed him money. He was hinting about taking care of me, before he went into conference with some other junkie. I got impatient, broke in there, and managed to kill them both." She lied. She hadn't owed him money, she just came here for the glasses. "See ya tonight. Oh, and before I forget, anything I can call you?"

"Nope." Replied the voice, simply. "That is an amusing story. Just find a place to store the bodies for the day, okay?"

"Uh-huh." Coco said, frowning. "Anything el-" Coco cut herself off when she realized the other girl had hung up. Well, at least she had gotten help.

Coco dropped her cigarette, stomping in out, before starting to climb back into the van. Paranoia forced her to pick up the dead cigarette butt, and toss it in the back with the bodies. It'd be best if there were no sign that Coco had ever been here.

With that, she drove off, looking for a place to stash the car and bodies for a day.


	2. Chapter 2

At age sixteen, Coco hadn't a lot of experience driving. In fact, she hadn't any.

But cruising through the barren streets of midnight Vale proved much simpler than she had originally thought. In fact, it wasn't hard at all. Turns had been a little iffy at first, but now she was getting used to it. She could see herself getting an actual license in no-

"Fuck!" Coco swore, as the van suddenly jolted. She had seen something run from the darkness, under her car, and now it was probably dead.

Secretly jumping at any chance to escape that putrid smell from the back, she stepped out to see what she had downed.

The once housecat was now roadkill-cat beneath her vehicle. She sighed. And things were going so well. Well, actually no. They weren't.

Still, as she looked distastefully at her latest victim, she couldn't help but feel a wave of guilt wash over her. Here this cat was, just trying to go about it's normal day, and then her and her stupid driving had to show up and brutally end it's life. It hadn't done anything wrong. Tomorrow, a family would wake up, and there cat would be dead. Because of her.

Coco frowned.

Despite the pervading sense of guilt that had engulfed her, it was paranoia that resulted in her picking the dead cat up, and throwing it in the back with her other two victims. There couldn't be any tie to Coco and this area. If they saw a cat died, and then got something off that cat's body, that could lead them to the car... Well, Coco didn't know if that was actually possible, but she wasn't taking chances.

Two people, and now a cat. It was then that Coco wondered if she should be worried about the fact that she only felt guilty about the cat. She wiped her hands on the blanket back there, and then went back up front. This time, not only did she drive slowly (In memory of Sir Fuzzykins; was it sociopathic to name a cat you just killed? Questions for later), but she also rolled down a window, because the smell was getting just too terrible. It was so terrible, that she didn't care if other people of the night smelled it. She just wanted it out of her car.

Coco stashed the van in an abandoned alleyway a few blocks away from her house, after scratching it up a bit. When she decided it looked shitty enough not to steal, she went home. Of course, she had already locked the car, and rolled up her window, but she had taken too many precautions to just turn around and get her hearse stolen. It was just about 5am when she finally unlocked her door, and after locking it back up, she immediately went to take a well deserved, and very well needed shower.

She didn't take long thinking about the meeting. There was a clear way to go about it. She didn't want this criminal to see her face (and survive), so she would wear a mask. She had one mask.

She was a big personality in the underground illegal streetfighting pits. Or, "The Underground" as they liked to be called. She wasn't fast, but she had a knack for dodging hits (especially those aimed at her face), and she could take a beating. Not to mention, she could dish one out. There were some freaks down there, (mostly Faunus) who would flip around, and throw a lot of fancy kicks her way, but she was good at moving, blocking, and dodging, and even better at getting back up after getting hit.

After she realized that she had what it took to win those events, she decided to don a costume, so her face wouldn't travel around in the Underground, mimicking some of the more successful streetfighters she had seen. After purchasing a cute light brown bikini top, dark brown shorts and a mask, Coco sewed herself a cape. In retrospect, she had gone a little overboard with the cape... But she didn't regret it in the slightest.

The cape, like her shorts, were a warm, deep chocolate brown. Caramel swirls came from the neck of the cloak, all the way to the bottom, which was rimmed with a darker caramel-colored fur. She had outlined the swirls with sequins, and the inside was a satiny-black fabric. It was an expensive project, but after she was done, she more than made up the money with that costume.

After completing her costume, the Chocolate Brawler made her debut, and proceeded to take the Underground by storm. Once, she had screwed up, and took a hit heavy enough that broke her mask, but she bought another one shortly thereafter. Plus, nobody recognized her as the Chocolate Brawler out of costume, so there must not have been enough lighting to get a good look at her face.

It wasn't the best job, but it was easy. To a degree. And she used to use the money for basic necessities, rent, and drugs. Until she stopped going to the fights because of the drugs.

She still had her costume, as she had bought a replacement mask after the first broke. If this went well, she might go back into fighting. She needed money somehow. If it didn't, and that lovely female voice over the phone tried to kill her for vengeance, then she would hang up the cape forever, unless she ended up killing everyone at the scene.

She frowned. No, that wouldn't work. She had been put through enough stress with these two bodies. If she murdered her only way to dispose of them, then she'd be stuck with three bodies. If this girl betrayed her, she'd just have to run. Get home, and never equip the costume again. She nodded to herself. She had always thought that the costume made her look like a stripper anyways.

She was kind of proud of the mask, though. She had spray painted it chocolate brown, and done a symmetrical design that looked like chocolate squares. "It's not an obsession, it's a theme, clueless." She had told one of her opponents, before she knocked him out.

There were some cities that were awake during the day. Folk who went about their day in the dead of night, roamed the streets freely, with no regard for the sleeping, and certainly no worries of danger. Cities that bustled as if it were day, regardless of the hour. Vale was not such a city. In the dead of night, those who were awake and roaming, either stepped lightly because they were aware of the dangers of night, or were the dangers of night.

Coco supposed she now belonged to the group of the latter, if Sir Fuzzykins and the other two bodies in the back had anything to say about it. She had parked her car along the side of the road, right in front of the bridge, and now stood beside it, wrapped in her wrestling cloak, and burning through another cigarette from her pack.

The tiny death stick helped warm her against the cold night air (which was especially important due to her skimpy outfit beneath the cloak), and forget the terrible stench of the car. Somehow, the blood had soaked through the two layers of blankets, and made the entire van stink even worse then yesterday. Gods, Coco hated killing people.

A glistening white car pulled up dangerously fast and pulled over opposite her, before two people got out.

A short multi-colored hair girl dressed in white and black got out of the drivers seat. On the other side, a taller brunette dressed in an extravagant red dress (that Coco couldn't help but appreciate) got out on the passenger side. The shorter girl looked Coco's way, and put her hand over her mouth in a silent gasp.

The other girl glanced her way as her gaze passed over Coco, before fixating on the van. Her eyebrows rose, as her gaze turned back towards the Chocolate Brawler. She gave a clearly amused smile, before making her way across the street to meet Coco, the driver following. The shorter girl had a multi-colored umbrella, which might be weapon. If it was, that also meant this girl was more than likely a user of Aura. It'd take more than a single volley of shells to take down these two, though she couldn't see a weapon on the brunette... The driver probably doubled as the body guard. Granted, murdering them both was already not an option; She had even left the rifle in the car.

The girl let out a polite, elegant, and brief laugh. One that might be heard at an expensive wine tasting, or some other formal event. The words that followed were surprisingly less likely to be heard in such an environment. "Well, I'll be damned." The brunette said, solidifying her identity as the voice Coco had heard from over the phone. "The Chocolate Brawler killed Deuces. I knew there was a reason I liked to bet on you."

"Do you wanna paint each other's nails first, or shall we get down to brass tax?" Said Coco, raising a hidden eyebrow. This recognition was her comfort zone. She loved the attention of fame, she was born for it. She only wished she could be more reputable to more respectable types. "He's in the back." She gestured with her head, before showing the two to the trunk, and opening it.

All three of them turned their heads as the stench was allowed to flow freely into the night air.

"I mentioned there were two bodies, right? Complications, catching him when he's off guard and all... And then murdering the person who got him off gua- Well, I'm not a girl who kills and tells. Unless that's what it takes.. to.." Coco trailed off in shock; Ms. Red Dress had reached over, and touched the blood soaked body-holding blankets, and they glew for a second, before disintegrating into thin air. An impossible wind blew what little was left to into the night air.

Coco had no clue why _this_ girl needed a bodyguard. Suddenly, the brunette emanated a whole new feeling of danger. The aforementioned brunette frowned at the huge bloodstain, and the dead cat beside where the bodies had been. She gave a slightly confused look to Coco. Coco quickly replied, "Could you also..." before trailing off, and pointing to the dead cat. The girl had to bite her lip to keep from laughing, but did as Coco requested. As Sir Fluffykins became one with the wind, the girl who had just solved her problems climbed out of the van, and turned to address Coco. "We should probably take the van too, Ms. Brawler. It was registered to Deuces."

"Yeah, you do that. Thanks." Said Coco, turning to walk away. 'Deuces, Deuces.' She thought as she turned, fully intent on heading home.

That calm, polite voice stopped her. "Umm, excuse me." she began. Coco paused, and turned around to listen to what she still had to say. "I'm not seeing the stash... Where did you put it?" The short girl was in the van, checking the front seats, before turning to see Coco's answer.

It was at that moment, that Coco knew she fucked up. She had left the drugs at the crime scene. If she wasn't wearing the mask, they would have noticed it too, with how the question caught her off guard. She had promised them the drugs though, hadn't she? Time to improvise.

She spat to the side, before replying to the brunette's question, "Yeah, sorry about that, sweet cheeks. Kinda changed my mind about that part. Keeping 'em for myself." She said, coolly. So coolly, that you almost couldn't tell that she had just witnessed the girl she was refusing completely incinerate two humanoids and a cat, without breaking a sweat.

The girl gave Coco a look somewhere between dangerous, and confused. "You know... If you killed him for drugs, this suddenly becomes a lot less interesting... Even given your identity. I _only_ agreed to help because it was interesting, Brawler." She narrowed her eyes, and her tone slowly became more and more dangerous as she continued. "If you made the mistake of leaving drugs behind, then that'll give the cops a reason to investigate this fool's disappearance. A rookie mistake. I don't work with rookies." The girl now had a murderous vibe about her. She shared a look with the multi-colored hair girl, who had gotten out of the van, before beginning to slowly approach Coco.

Coco shot her an incredulous look from behind her mask, and put a hand on her hip. "Listen, thanks for the help, Red. It's not like I don't appreciate it, but the drugs are mine, and what I do with them, is my business. If you've got a problem with it," Coco gave a toss of her hair, as she finished, "Let's deal with it."

Hopefully this girl backed down.

"Fair enough." The woman said, turning around and walking back towards the van. The short girl set her umbrella down, and leaned on it, like a cane. Still a meter or so away from Coco. Coco herself, had calmed down some, relieved that this woman wasn't interested in a fight. "Glad you see things my way," Coco said to the girl's back.

"Sure, why not?" Came the deadly calm reply. "Neo loves dealing with things."

Coco wasn't sure what to make of that at first, then, the shorter girl did a sideways flip towards Coco, landing on one foot in front of her, and shooting the other towards Coco's face. 'Okay, so apparently we are doing this.' Coco moved her head left, and began to lean back. She then threw her hand out in front of her in a sideways slapping motion, knocking the leg out of her face, and using the momentum to turn herself around, and break into a run towards an alley.

Neo used the momentum of Coco's attack, to do a ballerina-like twirl, as she lowered her foot down, before walking after Coco.

Coco sped down several alleyways, twisting and turning, before turning a corner, and running right into Neo, who immediately jabbed her in the midsection with her umbrella, causing Coco to stumble back, and grab her midsection. She attempted to follow up with a quick cartwheel kick, but Coco ducked it, and stumbled past her, still holding her stomach. As she stood back up, Neo flashed her a wicked grin. She flipped Neo the bird in reply, before quickly running down the alleyway. She looked back again, but Neo was gone.

Realizing that Neo was probably waiting on the path ahead, with another ambush ready, Coco quickly turned around, and ran back the way she came. She managed to escape back to their original street. Bursting out of the alleyway, she saw the girl in the red dress, across the way, leaning against the slick tasteful white car, and sadly the girl saw her.

She narrowed her eyes, and got up, beginning to swiftly walk towards Coco. "What happened towards dealing with things, Brawler?" She said, almost musically, extending her hands as they both ignited. Coco expressed her distaste with a slight forward incline of her head. She had already seen this girl disintegrate people. If she was trying to outdo herself, she'd have to do better than that.

Miss Red Dress heeded her silent challenge in the form of fireballs. It was sometime after Neo showed back up, that Coco had realized she couldn't dodge fire blasts, and Neo's blows at the same time. She wasn't about to get incinerated though, so she took a few more hits from Neo, instead. Didn't matter; Neo kicked like a girl. Granted, girls kicked pretty hard, but as long as she kept Neo away from her face, she was cool. It annoyed her how precarious Neo's stance was after every attack. And her attacks were so mobile.

It was that train of thought that led to the thinking that Neo wouldn't do too well on a place where she didn't have as much room to move around.

In retrospect, she wasn't exactly sure how she managed to scale the arches of this bridge while under attack. But now, here she was, dodging kicks from Neo while balancing on an iron beam. She glanced back, just in time to see the girl in the red dress shoot a blast of fire towards her, from the direct opposite side of Neo. Soon, she would be a human shield for the short girl. The aforementioned girl sent a double kick towards Coco's stomach, before Coco could turn her attention back, sending Coco stumbling back dangerously on the beam beneath her. Falling left, meant to the ocean. Falling right, meant to concrete. Death.

It wasn't until Neo shot another kick towards her face, that Coco knew how she was going to get out of this situation. She turned her head, and grabbed Neo's leg, holding it against her shoulder. The wind was roaring in her ears, so she had no clue how close the fireball was, but it had to be close. Coco smirked, and a look of shock and distress covered the mute's face, as she realized what Coco was planning. Before Neo could perform a counter attack, Coco spun around, and threw Neo towards the Red girls' oncoming fireball.

That's one down. 'Maybe the girl in the red dress will realize how much she screwed up now?' She hoped. She also hoped that the fireball Red Dress threw at Neo would completely incinerate her. Granted, it wasn't really Coco that would kill Neo, so it wasn't her problem.

Neo's look of shock and distress turned into a smirk as she opened her umbrella, and flew harmlessly out of the way of the fireball, at the last possible second. The fireball shot right past where Neo once was, harmlessly. Apparently, it wasn't anyone who would kill Neo.

Coco was shocked at just how fast the fireball was coming now. She screwed up.

Yeah, there was no dodging this one. It's funny, they say your entire life flashed before your eyes when you were about to die. Coco didn't have her _entire_ life flash before her eyes.

Her flashback started at a very specific point.


End file.
